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Back where she belongs

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Warren Ruda / The Citizens' Voice
Holy Redeemer's Rachel Finnegan will compete in the 100 back and 100 free at the PIAA Class AA Swimming Championships.

Making comebacks are nothing new to Holy Redeemer swimmer Rachel Finnegan.

She successfully overcame a pair of knee surgeries as an underclassman to establish herself as one of the top swimmers in the Wyoming Valley Conference.

Another injury this season, however, left the senior mentally defeated.

With her final year with the Royals in doubt, Finnegan once again turned to rehab therapy and an alternate pool workout. Mentally, she had to dig deep and re-establish her goals.

Finnegan made a full recovery from a partial tear in her rotator cuff and just three weeks after returning full time to the pool, she won a District 2 Class AA gold medal in the 100 back and finished second in the 100 free. She qualified for the PIAA Championships in both events and leads a contingent of WVC swimmers this week to Bucknell University.

"I was finally at a place where I was happy with the goals I set, so I was pretty devastated that I was going to miss so much," said Finnegan, the 2012-13 Citizens' Voice co-swimmer of the year. "I mentally wasn't into it and I needed to be pulled back in. Thankfully my coach (Mara Pawlenok) helped me figure out a plan and made me realize what I could do."

Finnegan was doing routine bench presses in late December when the injury happened. She tried to shake it off and attempted practice the next day, but the pain was enough for her to realize it was serious.

"I felt so bad for her because she had so many goals in place," Pawlenok said. "She was really upset. And I told her 'Look, you have two options. One, your season is over, or two, get on the kick board and let's go."

Finnegan chose option No. 2 and while she couldn't do strokes in the pool, she worked vigorously in the water with her legs. It helped her maintain the base of her training and kept her ready for when she was cleared to resume full workouts.

"She had a decent base and four years of training, but we still weren't sure how things would go for her at districts," Pawlenok said. "We couldn't taper her because she didn't have all the yardage behind her. Most of what she did came from her desire to overcome and her desire to do her best."

Her best in the 100 back actually proved to be the best in school history as her time of 59.41 established a school record.

"I didn't go into the 100 back with too much thought," Finnegan said. "It was the first time I was doing that event at districts so I was just excited. The 100 free was a big event for me. I was nervous for that one and I was really hoping for a good time and to get on the medal stand."

In addition to her individual medals, Finnegan also took home a bronze as a member of the 200 medley relay and a fourth-place medal after swimming the final leg of the 400 free relay.

Her trip to the state meet is her fourth straight. As sophomore, she won a medal (6th place) as a member of the 200 medley relay team that included her older sister, Elizabeth.

"She got a taste of earning a state medal as part of a relay and she's been swimming really fast," said Pawlenok of Finnegan, who is an 11th seed in Class AA in the 100 back. "We're expecting her to do well and she certainly knows what she has to do."

After weeks of not knowing how her season would play out, Finnegan is thrilled to have the opportunity to finish her high school career at the state level. Beyond it being her goal from the start of the year, it's proof of the hard work she put into getting herself back in water.

"It honestly means so much to me that I am going back to states," Finnegan said. "I went from positive to negative to positive again. And I'm honored to be where I am."

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